The China Post
Date: October 25, 2017
By: Joseph Yeh

TAIPEI (CNA) – The United States will not sacrifice Taiwan’s interests in exchange for

improved ties with China, a visiting former senior U.S. official said Tuesday in Taipei.

Daniel Russel, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs made the comments amid the ongoing 19th Chinese Communist Party Congress in Beijing and an upcoming first ever trip to China by U.S. President Donald Trump. The remarks were also directed at continued speculation that Beijing’s increased importance to U.S. foreign policy could pose a problem for Taipei.

Russel said that China has undergone major changes over the past five years under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping, underscored by the country’s growing economic strength and more active role in regional and global affairs.

Against this backdrop it is not surprising that China has become more important to U.S. foreign policy, he added.

“But should that be a problem for Taiwan? The common interests, the shared values, the institutional linkages, and the strong people-to-people ties and all the things I just described are like anchors, bonds that help ensure that improvements in U.S-China relations will never come at Taiwan’s expense,” he stressed.

Although the occupants of the White House and the Presidential Office have changed in recent years, what has not changed is the deep-rooted friendship between American and Taiwanese people, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
2017-10-23

The Presidential Office says the government’s cross-strait policy is based on public

consensus. That’s the word from Presidential Office spokesperson Alex Huang on Monday.

Huang was responding to the results of a survey which showed that 52% of those polled found President Tsai Ing-wen’s cross-strait policy unsatisfactory. The survey was conducted by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation, a non-partisan think tank.

Huang said the government is dedicated to maintaining cross-strait peace and stability and has continued to send friendly gestures to China. Huang also said the efforts made by the government have been recognized by the international community.
[FULL  STORY]

Barely a day after rocketing to fame for a ‘Taiwan’ tattoo plastered on his forehead, British man is arrested for DUI

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/10/23
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The British-born man, who rocketed to fame yesterday for

having enormous Chinese characters meaning “Taiwan” tattooed on his forehead and a Taiwan independence flag scrawled on his chin, was arrested early this morning in Kaohsiung for drunk driving, reported Liberty Times.

At 12:42 this morning (Oct. 23), a police officer on patrol noticed the man driving his scooter erratically and when he pulled him over, he noticed the man reeked of alcohol. Spotting the Chinese characters meaning “Taiwan” tattooed on his forehead, the officer realized he was the same foreign bar owner from the news reports the previous day.

Admitting that he had been drinking, he was asked to submit to a breathalyzer test, which revealed that he had an astronomical blood alcohol content of 0.82 mg/l.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/23
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Kuan-lin Liu 

Taipei, Oct. 23 (CNA) Local online vendors of a Japanese chewing gum that claims to
improve memory retention could face up to seven years in prison and a NT$50 million (US$1.65 million) fine, an official from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in an interview on Monday.

In a statement issued earlier Monday, the FDA said a Japanese chewing gum that allegedly improves memory retention is governed under regulations for controlled drugs and medicine, not those for food products, because the gum contains ginkgo biloba leaf extract, a substance that has not been approved as a food ingredient in Taiwan.

FDA section chief Chiang Chien-chi (江仟琦) later said vendors of the gum in Taiwan could face up to seven years in jail and a NT$50 million fine as all controlled drugs must first be approved by and registered with the Ministry of Health and Welfare before being sold.    [FULL  STORY]

DEFAULT OPTION:The vice minister of national defense said the ministry still preferred to have Ching Fu complete the minesweepers, or commissioning could take until 2023

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 24, 2017
By: Jonathan Chin  /  Staff writer, with CNA

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) could dissolve its minesweeper contract with

the scandal-prone Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co (慶富造船), which could delay delivery of the first vessel to 2023, Vice Minister of National Defense Admiral Pu Tze-chun (蒲澤春) said yesterday.

Ching Fu was awarded a contract to build six minesweepers for NT$35.8 billion (US$1.2 billion) as part of the nation’s domestic warship-building program and seeking a new contractor could lead to substantial delays to the minesweeper program, the MND said.

Last month, Ching Fu became the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation by Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office on allegation of financial fraud, raising fears that the shipbuilder could go under.

The Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee yesterday asked officials from the Ministry of Finance, Financial Supervisory Commission and MND to report on the state of the minesweeper project.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 23, 2017
By: Yeh Su-ping and Evelyn Kao

TAIPEI (CNA) – President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told a delegation from a Washington-

based think tank on Monday that Taiwan will continue to increase military spending as it works to strengthen its national defense capabilities.

In a meeting with representatives of the Hudson Institute, including its president Kenneth Weinstein, Tsai said Taiwan maintains stable and close economic and regional security relations with the United States.

As the head of state, Tsai said one of her priorities is to strengthen Taiwan’s defense capabilities and promote the development of its defense industry, and the government plans to increase the defense budget to enhance military training and boost military morale.

The president also said Taiwan has made many efforts in this area, and she looked forward to receiving suggestions from the think tank, particularly in the fields of military reforms and cooperation to strengthen regional peace and stability.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-10-22

President Tsai Ing-wen participated in Taipei’s 30th annual Hakka Yimin Festival on

Sunday. She spoke about how she is living proof that a Hakka woman can become president.

Tsai also pledged to support the Hakka people, saying that her government was injecting more than NT$10 billion (about US$330 million) into Hakka-related projects. She spoke about the government’s plan to promote Provincial Highway 3 as the “Romantic Hakka Avenue”. The goal is to boost the economy and promote the ecology and culture of 16 Hakka towns along the route.

About a quarter of the people in Taiwan consider themselves Hakka. Although they are ethnically Han Chinese, the Hakka people identify themselves by their shared language, history and culture.

President Tsai also took the opportunity to speak about her administration’s efforts to promote Hakka culture. She spoke about a new Hakka radio station which launched in June, and about the Cabinet’s efforts to make the Hakka dialect an official language in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Home decor and goods that provide a touch of Taiwan.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/10/22
By: TNL 編輯

We are always especially particular about what goes into our homes. Some well-known

home goods select shops, such as Design Butik and Nordic, specialize in importing or carrying foreign design brands so that consumers can enjoy masterfully designed pieces without leaving the country. Taiwan has also nurtured more than a few substantial home goods brands that have gone on to conquer the international market.

In recent years, many local brands with a focus on social and environmental issues have carved out a spot in international hearts. For example, YUAN is a hugely successful all-natural herbal soap brand, and Cha Tzu Tang, which has rejuvenated tea seed oil, has become a top-choice brand for body and household soaps.

TZULAI, a home goods brand that draws inspiration from Taiwanese imagery and incorporates traditional household goods material, and Hakka-blue, famed for their adorable soup-dumpling-shaped container sets — are all examples of brands that have explored Taiwanese culture on a profound level and manifested that in their products.
[FULL  STORY]

Preliminary findings from the autopsy of the Serbian mayor who died in Yilan on Saturday indicate the cause of death was a cerebral hemorrhage, according to the Yilan District Prosecutors Office Sunday.
 
Taiwan News
Date: Date: 2017/10/23 
By:  Central News Agency

Preliminary findings from the autopsy of the Serbian mayor who died in Yilan on

Saturday indicate the cause of death was a cerebral hemorrhage, according to the Yilan District Prosecutors Office Sunday.

Hsueh Chih-ho (薛植和), head prosecutor of the office, said initial findings indicate the deceased, Dragi Nestorovic, mayor of the city of Krusevac, suffered from heart arrhythmia which caused him to fall on the ground and fracture his skull, creating the cerebral hemorrhage which killed him.

However, the exact cause of death will not be detailed until the completion of a written report, Hsueh said.

An initial autopsy was conducted on Nestorovic’s body Sunday at the Mortuary Services Office, Yilan County, by a medical examiner.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/22
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan

Taipei, Oct. 22 (CNA) Beijing will continue to pressure Taiwan after the Communist

Party of China’s (CPC) 19th Party Congress, a visiting expert on Chinese politics said in Taipei on Saturday, urging Taiwan to acknowledge the “1992 consensus” to maintain its “autonomy.”

John Burns, honorary professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Hong Kong, was invited by the Lung Ing-tai Cultural Foundation to give a speech titled “Xi Jinping and the Reinvention of the CPC” at the Taipei Salon, attracting a group of foreign dignitaries.

In answering questions from the audience, including Israeli representative Asher Yarden, on what message Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) was sending to Taiwan in his report at the congress on Oct. 18, Burns said Xi emphasized “continuity” of policy towards Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]